A+E Interactive » Battlefield: Bad Company 2http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei
Bay Area Arts and Entertainment BlogMon, 30 Mar 2015 12:40:46 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1Blowing stuff up in Bad Company 2 (preview)http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/01/27/can-bad-company-2-top-modern-warfare-2/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/01/27/can-bad-company-2-top-modern-warfare-2/#commentsWed, 27 Jan 2010 17:30:05 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=17656
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the 800-pound behemoth of shooters. It’s gotten so huge that it even dwarfs the heavily hyped Halo franchise, making more than $1 billion so far. The game is one of Activision’s biggest… Continue Reading →]]>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2has become the 800-pound behemoth of shooters. It's gotten so huge that it even dwarfs the heavily hyped Halo franchise, making more than $1 billion so far.
The game is one of Activision's biggest guns, and to compete, it seems Electronic Arts is deploying a two-pronged approach. The first one is a revamped Medal of Honor that takes place in contemporary times. Not much is known about that.
The other is Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I had a chance to finally play the single-player campaign and a new squad rush mode Jan. 14. After getting hints of the gameplay in previous multiplayer sessions, it's good to see that the main campaign is turning out just as well.
The sequel returns with the old crew -- Marlowe, Redford, Sweetwater and Haggard. Seeing them again and watching them interact with the helicopter pilot Flynn, I almost forgot how funny they were. The humor was a hallmark of the first game and this one seems to be funnier. At least, Haggard hasn't lost his right-wing nut job personality.
This time around, they're in the South American jungle searching for a captured NSA agent named Maj. Aguirre. After spotting him in a village, they descend, and of course, all hell breaks lose. It's a relief to see a different environment this time around. The first game was a little brown and beige in places.
The gunfight in the jungle village shows off what DICE's Frostbite engine can do. Players can blow holes in shacks. They can even take down the structures. With bullets flying around and splintering walls, it's difficult to find cover. It's almost pointless to hide in anything but the underbrush.
Eventually, I fought through the soldiers and cornered the men holding Aguirre hostage. I shot them in a nice scene and the NSA agent confirmed the intelligence Bad Company had brought him. Apparently, the Russians built a mystery weapon and this sets up a conflict between the Washington and Moscow. To find out more about the doomsday device, Bad Company will have to go elsewhere.
The other half of the demo happens in the snows of the Andes. It's a level that will inevitably draw comparisons to Modern Warfare 2's
Kazakhstan stage. The level starts off with a bang as players shoot up a base with a Gatling gun attached to a chopper.
This shows off more of the destructable environments. On this level, players can shoot up cement buildings, which provide better protection. They can hit exploding barrels, destroy sniper's nests and blow up jeeps parked beneath corrugated metal carports. The amount of destruction is impressive and always seems appropriate. It's practical without being over-the-top.
When landing and fighting through the first batch of soldiers, I came across a weapons box. That's where players can view all the weapon's they collected and switch them out. I saw all the stats of each weapon, so that I was better informed on what to get. Players can carry two guns at the same time as well as any attachments, like a grenade launcher, to the weapon.
For the most part, the combat here is urban. Players have to move from building to building. Some of them, filled with furniture and knickknacks, are more detailed than others. Sweeping through these apartments though provides excellent flanking opportunities and an easy way to snipe foes from afar. Killing soldiers reveals a crazy blood spray that mists in the air. Along with the new death animations, players will also see that foes have new moves like slide down slopes.
Soon we got to the heart of the military base and uploaded a program that brought down another satellite, and after surviving a siege moment when every soldier and his mother attacked the squad, we got into a military jeep and sped through a fast driving sequence. I was at a wheel and my squadmates were in the seats providing backup fire.
I had to drive and shoot a grenade launcher that blew up everything in our path. It's pretty hectic, and at times, I didn't even know where I was going. There are moments when I wondered if DICE didn't expand the field of vision in places, making it look like Mirror's Edge.
Eventually, we ended up at the satellite crash site and that's where the demo ended.
The single-player may be the centerpiece of Bad Company 2, but the place where fans will spend most of their time is in the multiplayer. In previous previews, I went over team death match and other modes, but at the event, they showed off a new Squad Rush mode.
It's an option that pits four players against four players. They take either the Russian or American side. It's a similar concept to Rush mode except that the small teams will have to defend or attack two points.
It's faster-paced and offers quick gameplay. As in the previous Rush modes, it seems the offense has the advantage. Defenders will have to close off routes to Point A, which attackers are trying to blow up. With narrow lanes on the map called Valparaiso, it's easier to guard.
Attackers have a limited ticket count and if defenders can hold out, they can eventually win the game. If the attackers happen to blow up Point A, they'll have to fall back to Point B. If the defenders ended up losing that point, the game is over. Depending on the cohesiveness of the teams game can be either really fast or really slow.
Expect to see Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on shelves March 2.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/01/27/can-bad-company-2-top-modern-warfare-2/feed/18SP_06.JPGSP_04.jpgSquadRush_02.jpgSquadRush_01.jpgAn Army of Four in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (preview)http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/12/21/an-army-of-four-in-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/12/21/an-army-of-four-in-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/#commentsMon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:25 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=17430
Now that players have had a taste of Battlefield: Bad Company 2′s multiplayer, Electronic Arts gave me and a few other journalists more to sample. I traveled to the company’s headquarters in Redwood City last week to check out more… Continue Reading →]]>
Now that players have had a taste of Battlefield: Bad Company 2's multiplayer, Electronic Arts gave me and a few other journalists more to sample. I traveled to the company's headquarters in Redwood City last week to check out more modes and maps. Here's a roundup of what we played:
Mode: Squad Match
Map: Laguna Presa
Although EA Montreal makes Army of Two, that doesn't give the studio a monopoly on online co-op games. DICE has its own version with its Squad Match mode. The game type pits teams of four against each other.
At the most, 16 players can compete against each other. That's 4 vs. 4 vs. 4 vs. 4. In the match we played, the first team to reach 50 frags wins. We shot and hunted each other on a map called Laguna Presa, which was in a jungle area featuring waterfalls, creeks and villages spread out over a small area. There are invisible boundaries that make it seem as if the map was adapted from a level in the single-player campaign.
The focus of the map, the spot where most of the fighting will likely occur, is at a four-person tank, which teams can use to wreak havoc on their opponents. Coming from experience, it's better to be inside the armor than outside. The driver controls the big gun. A second player manages the turret while the two others shoot out of windows on the side.
Traveling inside the tank is a high-risk, high-reward move. Teammates can spawn on you when you're driving, and you can have your friends working as a team to keep rivals from blowing up your ride. But at the same time, it makes your squad sitting ducks. Everyone will be concentrating their fire on the vehicle and if it blows up, everyone dies.
Personally, I really liked this map and mode. Running around on paths was suicide. There were too many squads that would see and instantly murder you. It was best to stick together and hide in the bushes to get around.
And for shooter fans, DICE is including a hardcore mode, which is ultra realistic. There's no kill cam. Friendly fire is turned on along with more realistic damage. In addition, there's no heads-up display.
Map: Panama Cannal
Mode: Conquest
Compared with Laguna Presa, Panama Canal is huge. Taking place on a part of the famous structure, players will need tanks and other motorized vehicles to get around. Quite frankly, I wasn't much of a fan of Conquest as I was Squad Match.
The journalists and testers were divided into two mixed teams. One played as the Russians and the other took on role of U.S. service members. We had to run around the map holding specific points and reducing the other team's tickets. It's the classic mode that the Battlefield franchise is known for.
There's an ebb and flow to the matches as teams battle back and forth for flag nodes. In Conquest, I had a chance to experiment with the different specializations for each class. Much like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, players can level up their characters and obtain new weapons and special perks that let them move faster or increase their body armor. Each class has its own specialization aka perk and they can mix and match up to three.
As for the map itself, again, I can't emphasize how big it is. There are large hangars flanking the canal, where huge ships have run aground. This area is more urban and there's plenty of nooks and carnnies to hide and snipe from.
If players can't advance on the hangars by weaving in and out of crates, they may be able to outflank their rivals. They can jump onto the ships via planks and run through the cargo containers strewn about their decks.
The map can be chaotic at times, but the size of it is pretty amazing.
Next month, we'll be taking a look at the single-player campaign and another new online mode. In the meantime, I'm sure you'd like to know that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 arrives in March.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/12/21/an-army-of-four-in-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/feed/23Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2A familiar look for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (preview)http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/11/06/a-familiar-look-for-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/11/06/a-familiar-look-for-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/#commentsFri, 06 Nov 2009 16:59:54 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=17137
Not that it’s going to blunt the epic juggernaut that’s going to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but DICE will be releasing an exclusive multiplayer beta on the PlayStation 3 on Nov. 19. The date comes on the… Continue Reading →]]>
Not that it's going to blunt the epic juggernaut that's going to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but DICE will be releasing an exclusive multiplayer beta on the PlayStation 3 on Nov. 19.
The date comes on the heels of Modern Warfare 2's Nov. 10 launch. It's a provocative move, one that makes me arch an eyebrows just a little bit. It basically says from one franchise to another: We're not afraid of you. We can take you on despite your big marketing muscle and your controversial commercials. Even the news release has a slight jab at Activision's behemoth title: "Battlefield: Bad Company 2 provides a true all-out war experience like no other modern warfare game." (Those are my bold marks.)
But if Bad Company 2 can talk the talk, can it walk the walk? I had a chance to play the beta last month, and it looks like DICE's game will present some challenge to Modern Warfare 2. The two games definitely inhabit the same space in the shooter genre. Both have a similar cache of weapons, both have similar environments, both have a similar vibe.
It was immediately noticeable when I stepped into the urban environment near Arica Harbor in Chile. The place was dusty and brown. It looked like a place in the Middle East. The game mode my squad and I were playing was similar to Gold Rush, but without the gold. One side was attacking in order to arm some bombs and the other was defending, trying to prevent that from happening.
It seems as if the attackers had the advantage because the defenders rarely stopped the other team within the time limit. Usually, they'd ram tanks down our throats, kicking up dust and dirt until eventually they'd grabbed a foothold in the base. When the two objectives are taken down, the defenders can retreat further in the level, protecting two new targets. This kept going on through the town and ultimately to the harbor.
As in the previous game, players can choose from four different classes, each with their own special tool. The assault class is your basic soldier replete with rifles, grenades and a health pack. The engineer carries anti-vehicle weapons and a drill that can fix vehicles and heavy explosives. The medic has more health packs than normal and a defibrillator that can instantly bring players back to life so they avoid that long respawn time. Lastly, the recon unit has a sniper rifle and a grenade that detects movement around an area.
Depending on the class they choose, players can improve these roles making them more powerful and giving them access to better equipment. Leveling up a medic, I got access to a more powerful pistol.
In this sequel, DICE is putting more focus on squad play. All 24 players on a map need to group up and have a variety or role players on the team. Medics are essential to keeping up an offensive. Engineers are needed to repair the vehicles that are vital in moving across a large map. The whole system reminds me a lot of what Guerrilla Games did with Killzone 2 except there are vehicles.
Bad Company 2 still retains its destructable environments. You can take that tank and ram it through a building and destroy whatever cover the enemy is hiding behind. That ability becomes useful during the firefights in the urban areas. Tanks can not only take out the snipers, but also the nests they're hiding in. On top of that, the vehicles blasts kick up smoke or dust that has the beneficial effect of providing cover. It's not exactly a smoke grenade, but it works well.
In addition to the usual assortment of armored vehicles and jeeps, players can also control a UAV. All players have to do is step inside a turret like station and control a mini helicopter armed with rockets. It can wreak some havoc on the field and automatically spot enemies.
The two drawbacks about the vehicle is that A) reloading is slow as hell and B) sitting in that turret leaves players as sitting ducks. I'm sure enemies will relish shooting the smart guy standing still at the controls . Remember if you use this, just be sure to watch your back.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is scheduled for release in March, which isn't too far away.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/11/06/a-familiar-look-for-battlefield-bad-company-2-preview/feed/53Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Battlefield: Bad Company 2Can’t get enough of DICE’s Battlefield series?http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/02/05/cant-get-enough-of-dices-battlefield-series/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/02/05/cant-get-enough-of-dices-battlefield-series/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2009 22:17:48 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=11418
If death and taxes are the only certainty in life, then video game sequels run a close third, and to no one’s surprise, DICE is coming out with two new Battlefield titles. The first follow-up is Battlefield: Bad Company 2,… Continue Reading →]]>
If death and taxes are the only certainty in life, then video game sequels run a close third, and to no one's surprise, DICE is coming out with two new Battlefield titles. The first follow-up is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and if you judge games by their screenshots, this one looks moderately interesting.
I did like the goof-ball characters in the previous game, and in the sequel, it looks like DICE is putting Marlowe and company through new environments, including an arctic one. According to the presser, they'll actually "fight their way through snowy mountaintops, dense jungles and dusty villages."
Battlefield 1943 is the other title, and it sounds like the more intriguing of the two. The game will be released on the PC, PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace, meaning it's going to be a downloadable title. Again from the press release: "The game offers endless hours of 24 player multiplayer action over three classic and tropic locations; Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima."
You can almost smell the possibility of more DLC maps, weapons, etc. The game will use the same Frostbite engine, the game looks to be an update on Battlefield 1942 with snazzier graphics, physics and most likely networking code. For the right price, I would be down to play a prettier BF1942.
Battlefield 1943 is set to launch in the summer. As for Bad Company 2, it's coming this winter.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/02/05/cant-get-enough-of-dices-battlefield-series/feed/5BFBC2multSCRNww1.jpgairshot3.jpg